Evraz hit by false rumours on Abramovich

AUTHORITIES in the United States yesterday denied a report that it had detained Roman Abramovich, the Russian metals tycoon who owns Chelsea FC.

Abramovich, 46, is a major shareholder in London-listed steel firm Evraz, whose shares fell by more than six per cent before recovering to end the day 3.4 per cent lower.

“We didn’t arrest him. It’s just not true,” an FBI spokeswoman said in response to an unsourced report by Russia’s RBK financial news portal that Abramovich had been held.

The RBK report followed media speculation over the unexplained death of exiled Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky, who launched and lost a multi-billion-dollar court case last year against Abramovich, his former business partner.

Abramovich’s Moscow spokesman, John Mann, said earlier that the report was false: “He is in the US but he has not been arrested or detained.”